The Team

We use a team approach to meet your corporate acquisition needs. Our team of professionals have over 100 years of combined experiences in banking, commercial real estate, manufacturing, distribution, technology hardware and software development and private mergers and acquisitions.

The Mad River Associates team is comprised of experienced and successful professionals who average more than 30 years of in-depth experience. Our successful results are largely due to the synergies we capture having such high quality professionals working together on our clients' behalf.

Bob SahlmanFounder

April 2, 1948 to January 8, 2019

Bob Sahlman was President and Founder of Mad River Associates. Prior to 1998, Mr. Sahlman managed a team of seventeen professionals for Coldstream Real Estate Advisors, a commercial real estate brokerage firm in Bedford, New Hampshire. After retiring from that business in 1993, he went on to manage real estate investment entities in New England. After successfully selling the Sahlman family's rural telephone business, Topsham Telephone Company in 1998, Mr. Sahlman joined a thirty-year old main street brokerage firm called Country Business. The primary objective of joining Country Business was to find a manufacturing investment opportunity for the Sahlman family interests. After locating a suitable opportunity, Mr. Sahlman left Country Business in late 1998 to start Mad River Associates. Bob received a B.S. in finance from George Washington University with three years of additional graduate studies in real estate and urban development at American University.

John Freyhof has over fifteen years of direct investment and advisory experience and joined Mad River Associates as a Managing Director in June 2003. Prior to joining Mad River Associates, Mr. Freyhof co-founded TRF Urban Growth Partners, a $50 million fund specializing in socially responsible investments in middle-market manufacturing and service businesses. Mr. Freyhof has been involved in assisting companies with fundraising, business plan development, strategic marketing and new product development as an advisor, board member and investor. From 1997 - 2003, Mr. Freyhof was responsible for originating and managing investments in a portfolio of fifteen technology, manufacturing, software and service companies as a Managing Director at PNC Capital Markets and TRF Urban Growth Partners. From 1987 - 1997, he served as an advisor to nearly 300 early stage technology companies who subsequently went on to raise over $500 million while serving as Director of Venture Development at a Carnegie Mellon University spin off called the Enterprise Corporation of Pittsburgh. Mr. Freyhof holds a BS in accounting, cum laude, from Syracuse University and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a registered investment representative. Mr. Freyhof manages the Mad River Associates Philadelphia office.

Hank joined Mad River Associates (MRA) in 2010, bringing a diverse corporate background in telecommunications, software, finance, and M&A. He began in software development, then sales and sales management. Recruited to a public software company as Sr. VP, he was a key member of the team to take the company private and subsequently sell to a PE firm. Then joining a Fortune-1000 technology company as VP and GM, he participated in an LBO, the acquisition of another publicly-held company, and acquired several private medical and financial software companies. Then Hank left the corporate world to acquire a small technology integration company in a divestiture. When the business was sold, he moved from board member of a troubled ERP software company to CEO. The company migrated into e-commerce, grew dramatically, and was merged into a PE-led roll-up for a planned IPO. Hank then became CEO of a PE-backed company serving softgoods manufacturers and retailers. In the years immediately prior to MRA, Hank was CEO of two venture-backed telecommunications software companies, one selling Voice over IP products to worldwide "next-generation" carriers, the other selling network capacity planning software to the top 50 telecom service providers. Hank currently sits on the board of two technology companies and a winery.

Tim O'Connell joins Mad River Associates with over 30 years of
entrepreneurial
experience. Having owned and operated businesses within such diverse fields as health and fitness, commodity trading, and equipment financing, Tim knows the "ins and outs" of how businesses operate. His experience has taught him how to find workable solutions to numerous business problems. Tim graduated from the University of Vermont in 1976 with a B.S. in business. A year playing pro hockey for the San Diego Mariners in the W.H.A. followed. Tim then worked in the banking business for four years before owning his first business in 1981, Tim and his wife of 28 years, Katrina spend most of their time in the Mad River Valley where they enjoy skiing, hiking, and all Vermont has to offer. The months of July and August are spent in their Rhode Island home on Narragansett Bay where they enjoy sailing.

Since joining Mad River Associates in 2012, Lynn has helped clients identify targets in a wide range of industries including software, health care, consumer goods, industrial products and services-related industries. This diversity of industry experience is also reflected in Lynn’s experience outside of Mad River, which includes work in the education, telecommunications and tech industries. After finishing her B.S. in Engineering Management, Lynn spent over a decade selling computers into high technology and medical accounts. She then moved on to complete an M.B.A. in Finance from U.C.L.A. and a Doctorate in Business Administration with a concentration in Strategic Management at Boston University. As a doctoral student, Lynn worked as a consultant/researcher in the telecommunications industry while completing a dissertation on the evolution of the Brewing Industry. After graduation, Lynn spent some time as a tenured faculty member in the Strategic Management department at a small Massachusetts university. Currently, Lynn continues to enjoys teaching Strategic Management courses at Boston University, particularly when she can bring her highly-disguised M&A stories into the classroom.

Shaina Zamaitis, Esq. joined Mad River Associates in 2017 after working for 15 years in the law and health care industry. Prior to joining Mad River Associates, Shaina provided specialized legal research training to lawyers and law school students as a Client Success Manager at Bloomberg BNA. For five years, she developed and retained legal business through account planning and relationship building with Large Law, Corporate Legal Divisions and Academic Institutions. This included the adoption and integration of Bloomberg Law into law school curricula at top law schools on the West Coast. From 2010-2012 Shaina practiced health care law with a boutique health care firm, Kessenick, Gamma & Free, in downtown San Francisco. There, she represented the firm’s health care and accreditation clients, and assisted in the formation of various business enterprises. Shaina is licensed to practice law in the state of California, earning a J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 2010. She also earned a Master of Public Health degree from Boston University in 2005, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowdoin College in 2002. A life-long learner and avid adventure seeker, Shaina now spends most of her time in Colorado. She enjoys skiing, trail running, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, meditating, traveling, reading, writing, wine tasting, cooking, and trying new and unique restaurants.

John joins Mad River with 25 years of experience in senior and entrepreneurial roles in management consulting, transaction structuring, and investment management. The first decade of John’s career was centered on the energy industry, where he held hands-on and senior roles at a diverse range of companies including Stone & Webster, Navigant Consulting, Enron, and UBS Investment Bank. During this phase of his career, he gained in-depth exposure to operations, strategic planning, asset valuation, and transaction structuring and due diligence. A calling to work directly with individuals and private business owners led John to a career in private wealth management, first with UBS Financial Services, and then as co-founder of New Harbor Financial Group, LLC , a federally-registered investment adviser. John received a B.S. in Operations Research & Industrial Engineering, with distinction, from Cornell University. He is also a Certified Financial Planner™ professional, a designation he brings to bear in helping families and business owners navigate a myriad of personal financial decisions including retirement planning, business succession, and estate planning. John, his wife Grace, and their two sons reside in Groton, Massachusetts. His favorite escapes are trying (with mixed success) to advance his skills on a second-hand Taylor guitar and getting “lost” on remote single-track mountain bike trails throughout New England.

Mike joined Mad River in January 2018, with 25 years of experience in the specialty measurement and financial industry. Mike is constant entrepreneur, and is a founding principal of New Harbor Financial Group. Prior to forming New Harbor in 2005, he was a Financial Advisor with UBS Financial Services (formerly PaineWebber). Mike is also a Certified Financial Planner™ professional. Before becoming a financial advisor, Mike worked as a chemical engineer, focusing on designing and implementing temperature and moisture sensing technology. He holds a master’s degree in business from Bryant College and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Mike lives in Holden, Massachusetts, with his wife Beth and their four children, Ben, Seth, Kate, and Noah. Currently, Mike spends his free time gardening and tending to a small farm. He especially enjoys the opportunity to use his favorite toy — a small New Holland tractor — while working on the farm and taking care of the goats and chickens.

Lisa Loomis joins Mad River Associates with three decades of marketing, sales, public relations, and journalism experience.

Lisa is a graduate of Albion College in Albion, Michigan where she earned a degree in international politics and languages (French, German, Spanish, Russian).

She has owned a gym and works in the fitness industry as a fitness instructor and personal trainer and is currently co-owner of The Valley Reporter, a weekly newspaper serving central Vermont.

She is the founder of Mad River Valley Television, a public access station, where she serves as President of the Board of Directors. She is currently a member of the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce Board and sits on the board of the Mad River Valley Economic and Community Development Board.

June Cook serves as the Research and Database Manager of Mad River Associates. She has over 15 years of experience in Market Research within multiple industries, including consumer products, food & beverage, retail stores, restaurants, health care and insurance.

June graduated Magna Cum Laude from Temple University with a degree in Business Administration. She lives in Vermont with her two daughters and spends free time skiing and being a soccer mom.

Walker is a Business Development Research Analyst at Mad River Associates. Previously, he interned at MRA during the 2018 summer. Walker graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz with a degree in Finance. During his time at New Paltz, Walker served as president of both the Investment Club and the Accounting and Finance Association. Prior to attending SUNY New Paltz, Walker worked in commercial banking in his home town of Kinderhook, NY. Walker lives in Vermont and enjoys exploring local restaurants, and spending time outdoors.